Off-Hook

I love AMD. They make powerful, affordable processors with low power consumption and set the standard in the industry for stability and innovation. First to market with stable 64-bit architectures, they continue to outperform Intel at every turn. Motherboards that support AMD processors consistently offer cutting-edge features, scalability and style.

Somehow, though, Intel has managed to maintain a vast majority of market share. How?

The link associated with the title of this post takes you to details of AMD’s case against Intel pointing out monopolistic deals and threats against retailers who buy from AMD.

When did competition cease to be a driver for innovation?

Once upon a time in America, competition drove business to redesign products and services (improve) or redefine them (innovate). Now, it appears the trend is to find ways to lockout competition instead of nurturing the mother of innovation.

It seems our generation is doomed to be hailed as a generation of both innovators and businessmen to supress that innovation. I’d like to blame Intel alone for this– They have far surpassed anything Microsoft ever got blamed for, but the fact is, retailers are as much to blame as Intel for not diversifying their vendors in the first place to protect themselves from giving one vendor the leverage necessary for such tactics to work.

I wonder now how Apple’s decision will effect the future of AMD… Apple, of all companies– Possibly the most visible of all innovators in the industry.

Well… High power consumption and heat, combined with IBM’s failure to match supply to demand have opened the door to Intel, and Apple appears more than happy to greet them. I do hope, however, that the powerpc chip will not go the way of the dinosaur. Perhaps IBM will use this minor setback to redesign the chips– Any Mac afficionado will tell you that if they are inferior to Intel chips, it is only by the narrowest of margins and the last powerpc macs will still be dependable long after you’re replacing the harddrive on your Compaq.

Hey– This may even open up a brand new genre of modding! Although that is probably a LONG ways off. Even Jobs says the transition will be slow and a little painful. I also doubt it will reduce the price, since there will be no reduction in quality. You’re still getting state-of-the-art technology with an OS and architecture that is unmatched in dependablity and security. At least there will be no more whining when comparing Macs to other consumer-grade rigs about some undefinable difference in MHz or clock speed.

Check out some extreme polar views of Mac enthusiasts, both PRO and CON

***UPDATE***

For those of you wondering if Jobs has come out of his now-infamous state of paranoia– The answer is a resounding NO! Apple has already announced the first step it is taking towards making certain OSX never makes it to a Dell machine, and perhaps making certain that Winblows never makes it onto a MAC… Check THIS out!

As I anxiously await an opportunity to see the new movie, I thought it might be fun to take a Star Wars quiz. Be warned: The quiz has just a little vulgarity in it, but very light and only on a couple questions. Overall, a very fun quiz.

Here’s my results:

Oh yeah– If you have speakers, you might want to mute this or you’ll be VERY sick of the Star Wars theme by the end of the quiz.